The present invention relates to hand-worn tools for cleansing and grooming pet animals.
The grooming and washing of a pet such as a dog usually involves the use of several implements such as sponges, brushes, shampoo bottles and so forth. In addition, implements with rigid handles can often cause pain or injury to a squirming animal. The use of a glove, a mitten or other hand held device expressly designed for the purpose can simplify the process.
The prior art reveals several inventions that are related to the pet grooming or allied processes using such devices.
Davis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,251 relates to a hand-worn dispenser in the form of a thin-walled glove with a self-contained receptacle for storing dry or liquid material to be dispensed by squeezing. Having conduits extending from the reservoir along the fingers, sealed distal ends are severable to vary the material discharge rates.
Damm, U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,195 reveals an animal grooming device that is a pad attached to a wide strap which folds over and attaches around the palm of a hand. The pad has hook shaped bristles that are effective in controlling shedding of hairs on animal coats of longhaired dogs or cats.
Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,335 describes a scrubber device with a waterproof mitt. This is a cleaning device for protecting the hand and providing a bonded cleaning media such as a sponge or abrasive pad covering the palm and finger area. A reservoir for liquid, powder or paste material is located at the wrist dispensing via conduits into the palm pad.
Zielinski, U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,955 involves a therapeutic scrubbing mitten for cleansing the scalp of an infant. It is adapted for cleaning and rinsing with one hand while holding the infant with the other. A reservoir in the palm portion with a slit type seal for filling or emptying can be filled with rinsing water. Soft bristles facilitate scrubbing.
Wolgamuth, U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,349 relates to an ergonomic hand pet washing system consisting of one or two gloves that are worn by the user. The glove or gloves are connected by a resilient hose to a supply of pressurized water. Conduits on the palm side of the gloves split the flow into four streams discharging at the base of the fingers. Means are provided to introduce shampoo into the water stream at a valve assembly upstream of the gloves. A uniform distribution of rubber protrusions or nibs covers the palm and palm side of the glove fingers to aid in agitation of the liquid and massage of the animal.
Freulon, U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,572 describes an apparatus combining a fluid chamber, comb and brush in a common housing hose connected to a vacuum device to wash, comb, and dry an animal in a single operation.
Newkirk et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,709 describes a pet therapeutic glove with cutoff fingers and a thumb hole that can be used with or without a power-operated massager.
Lennon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,575 relates to an animal-grooming mitt with a rubber palm portion with nibs to facilitate removal of loose hair during grooming. The body of the mitt may be made of rigid material.
Courtney et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,837 describes a pet glove with fingers or finger holes adaptable to use one or more resilient pads with bristles. In some embodiments, the bristle pads are removably attached to the palm side of the glove.
Dowdy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,327 relates to a hand-held motor-driven apparatus using a flexible toothed belt guided by two pulleys to remove animal hairs, massage and distribute natural oils on an animal such as a horse.
While these prior art devices solve some of the problems associated with pet grooming, they do not incorporate the unique combination of features of the present invention.
They do not provide a pet grooming mitt which includes a large reservoir for dispensing cleaning fluid, such as shampoo, in an area extending from the distal finger tip area to the wrist area of the user, while providing a bristle pattern that both grooms animal fur, while dislodging fur hair snags during washing.
Therefore, the objects of the present invention are as follows:
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pet grooming mitt which includes a large reservoir for dispensing cleaning fluid, such as shampoo, from the whole hand area of a cleaning mitt, while also providing a bristle pattern with a series of densely located bristle groups extending axially through the work surface side of the glove, for dislodging animal fur hair snags during washing a pet animal.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a rubber mitt with built-in reservoir and discharge and massage features for efficient pet grooming.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a flu purposeful pattern of rubber nibs on the palm side to engage pet hairs, to remove loose hairs, and to provide effective massage.
It is another object of the present invention to permit the grooming mitten to be molded of rubber in a single cost-effective operation.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a rigid thumb section to provide stability to the mitten to permit more effective and rapid use.
It is also an object of this invention to permit easy discharging of cleaning fluid over the entire surface of the palm side of the mitt.
It is also an object of this invention to improve over the disadvantages of the prior art.
In keeping with these objects and others which may become apparent, the present invention includes a cleaning mitt for the grooming and washing of a pet, such as a cat or dog, which replaces the need for separate implements such as sponges, brushes, shampoo bottles and so forth. The cleaning mitt is gentle during washing of a squirming animal.
The present invention is preferably a rubber mitt with a built-in flexible reservoir for cleaning fluids, such as shampoo. In a preferred embodiment, the reservoir extends all the way from the distal fingertip end to the wrist end of the mitt. A plurality of valves are strategically placed throughout the palm side of the mitt to distribute a plurality of streams of fluid from the mitt.
In a preferred embodiment the mitt has a deliberately dense pattern of rubber nibs along the mid-line on the palm side of the mitt to engage pet hairs, to loosen hair snags and remove loose hairs, and to massage the animal""s fur coat.
Furthermore, the grooming mitten is preferably molded of a strong, flexible material, such as rubber.
Optionally, a rigid thumb section has a longitudinally extending thick section to add structural stability to the mitt during use, so that it can be guided along the backs and other fur surfaces of a pet animal being cleaned. This rigid thumb section enables a user to gently glide the mitt over the animal, while easily discharging cleaning fluid from the entire surface of the palm side of the mitt.
The mitt has a selected pattern of flexible nibs, such as rubber nibs or bristles, protruding from the palm side of the mitt. The reservoir includes a reservoir filling port with an integrally molded stopper, and an optional hanging tab with a hole for drying mitt after wet use.
For example, there is a plurality of circular nib patterns, such as four, including a central nib with two concentric circles of nibs. These circular patterns are especially effective at massage and for removing loose hairs when a circular scrubbing motion is used. These denser patterns of nibs generally extend axially along a mid-line of the glove extending from the closed distal fingertip end to the open wrist end of the mitt.
The high density of nibs in these regions provides a substantial force, which can be exerted against the fur and hide of the animal without collapsing the nibs from their perpendicular direction of use, even though they are fabricated of the same soft rubber material of the rest of mitt.
To effectively discharge shampoo over the entire mitt area, the fluid reservoir extends over the entire palm and finger portions of the mitt. Discharge of the shampoo is through openable valves, such as crossed knife slits, which are distributed over the cleaning palm side surface of the mitt. These slit openings are the fluid discharge openings, which normally remain closed when no internal pressure is built up and the palm is kept essentially flat.
When, however, the mitt is flexed so that the nib bearing cleaning side assumes a concave configuration, an internal pressure builds up, and the crossed knife slits constrict in length, so that their respective edges bow out and open for discharge of fluid, such as shampoo, therethrough.
In the rigid thumb embodiment, the thumb portion has a thumbhole, which is surrounded by rubber, which is substantially thicker at the top. This thickness of the thumb portion helps make the mitten more rigid, with less tendency to collapse during use, while the palm section can still be flexed to conform to the animal""s contours.
In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the thumb is no longer reinforced or rigidized by a thick top section, for use in cleaning smaller animals where more flexibility is needed.